Hi all. From rehabbing Barred owls for a couple of years, they don't seem
to care much as long as it is raw and meaty. They have readily eaten minced
beef heart, quail, rat, rabbit, frog and on one occasion I fed them minced
barred owl. They like the internal organs and I know they will eat carrion.
They do prefer something with fur on it but they seem greedy little owls
that won't stop at much. The head of prey is relished and sometimes guts
are not eaten. Hence I don't house Barred with small owls such as saw whet.
P.s. I do not feed live food. Helena Nicolay. Wildlife rehabber. Monkton.

On Apr 2, 2017 9:59 AM, "Tyler" <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> Hi all,
>
> I'm curious if anyone else on this listserv has observed this behavior in
> Barred Owls before. I have found a small amount of literature on this, but
> it doesn't seem to be a very common behavior.
>
> My house has been hosting a Barred Owl every night (from dusk til dawn) in
> an Ash tree in our backyard for over a week now. Sometimes it even shows up
> before sunset. It is always there, no matter what time of night I look out
> there, always on the same branch. I had assumed it was feeding on the many
> rabbits and mice we have running around, but a few nights ago I started
> noticing 'her' dropping down onto the lawn, where there is no brush or
> vegetation anywhere nearby. I thought this would be strangely open
> territory for a mouse to be venturing, and then I saw what she was after.
> She was picking up earthworms. I've been observing her now and it appears
> that she is specializing in hunting worms. Last night I observed a rabbit
> feeding DIRECTLY BELOW HER (her perch is only 6 feet off the ground) and
> she completely ignored the rabbit, flew past it, and returned to her perch
> with another worm.
>
> Has anyone else observed this vermivorous behavior in owls before?
>
> Tyler Pockette
> Salisbury
>